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Criticisms

The school has not been without controversy. Though Southern Baptist in origin, Baylor is not officially affiliated with either of the two state Southern Baptist groups; it is roughly affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, which is affiliated with the liberal Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

Furthermore, its athletic programs have been the center of two major scandals in the 21st century:

First, in 2003 men's basketball player Patrick Dennehy was murdered by teammate Carlton Dotson after an argument. What on the surface appeared to be a routine criminal investigation quickly unraveled as questioned arose as to how Dennehy could afford Baylor's tuition without an athletic scholarship. Ultimately it was discovered that basketball coach Dave Bliss was paying Dennehy's and another teammate's tuition on the side, in violation of NCAA rules. Bliss tried to avoid suspicion by claiming that Dennehy was paying his own tuition by selling drugs. After further illegal activities arose (drug use ignored by the coaching staff and an "illegal tryout" of a recruit) and a report that Bliss had illegally paid tuition for a player while the head coach at Southern Methodist University, Bliss was forced to resign. Tom Stanton, the Baylor Athletic Director, also resigned: though there was no evidence he knew about the activities, he did so to take responsibility for what happened. Ultimately Baylor lost scholarships, was not permitted to play any non-conference games for one season, and Bliss was hit with a ten-year "show cause order".[3] Bliss has not worked at an NCAA school since; he later coached a private Christian school (which ended up being kicked out of its league for misconduct) and later at an NAIA school (from which he resigned after a Showtime documentary aired about his actions while at Baylor).

Second, in 2016 the football team was the center of allegations that, from 2012 to 2016, players on the team had assaulted (sexually and otherwise) females attending Baylor, and that university officials had failed to take action. The scandal resulted in the ouster of head football coach Art Briles and the resignations of university president Ken Starr and athletic director Ian McCaw.[4] Patty Crawford, Baylor's Title IX director, also resigned, claiming that she was not allowed to do her job in protecting the female students by university officials.

See also

References

↑In the NCAA, if another institution wishes to hire a person under a show cause order, that institution must show the person has complied or is complying with the terms of the order. Most institutions will not even consider hiring someone who is under a show cause order, or in some cases even after the period ends, thus essentially blackballing the person from NCAA employment.